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Jerome David Kern 1885 - 1945

Jerome David Kern was born on January 27, 1885 in Manhattan County, NY, and died at age 60 years old on November 11, 1945 in New York, New York County. Jerome Kern was buried at Ferncliff Cemetery 280 Secor Rd, in Hartsdale, Westchester County. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Jerome David Kern.

Jerome David Kern

January 27, 1885

Manhattan County, NY

November 11, 1945

New York, New York County, New York, United States

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Jerome David Kern Jerome Kern (1885 - 1945)

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Jerome David Kern's History: 1885 - 1945

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Introduction

First compositions For a time, Kern worked as a rehearsal pianist in Broadway theatres and as a song-plugger for Tin Pan Alley music publishers. While in London, he secured a contract from the American impresario Charles Frohman to provide songs for interpolation in Broadway versions of London shows. He began to provide these additions in 1904 to British scores for An English Daisy, by Seymour Hicks and Walter Slaughter, and Mr. Wix of Wickham, for which he wrote most of the songs. Angela Lansbury sings "How'd you like to spoon with me?" in Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) In 1905, Kern contributed the song "How'd you like to spoon with me?" to Ivan Caryll's hit musical The Earl and the Girl when the show transferred to Chicago and New York in 1905. He also contributed to the New York production of The Catch of the Season (1905), The Little Cherub (1906) and The Orchid (1907), among other shows. From 1905 on, he spent long periods of time in London, contributing songs to West End shows like The Beauty of Bath (1906; with lyricist P. G. Wodehouse) and making valuable contacts, including George Grossmith Jr. and Seymour Hicks, who were the first to introduce Kern's songs to the London stage. In 1909 during one of his stays in England, Kern took a boat trip on the River Thames with some friends, and when the boat stopped at Walton-on-Thames, they went to an inn called the Swan for a drink. Kern was much taken with the proprietor's daughter, Eva Leale (1891–1959), who was working behind the bar. He wooed her, and they were married at the Anglican church of St. Mary's in Walton on October 25, 1910. The couple then lived at the Swan when Kern was in England. In May 1915, Kern was due to sail with Charles Frohman from New York to London on board the RMS Lusitania, but Kern missed the boat, having overslept after staying up late playing poker. Frohman died in the sinking of the ship. The "Princess Theatre shows" were unique on Broadway not only for their small size, but their clever, coherent plots, integrated scores and naturalistic acting, which presented "a sharp contrast to the large-scale Ruritanian operettas then in vogue" or the star-studded revues and extravaganzas of producers like Florenz Ziegfeld. Earlier musical comedy had often been thinly plotted, gaudy pieces, marked by the insertion of songs into their scores with little regard to the plot. But Kern and Bolton followed the examples of Gilbert and Sullivan and French opéra bouffe in integrating song and story. "These shows built and polished the mold from which almost all later major musical comedies evolved. ... The characters and situations were, within the limitations of musical comedy license, believable and the humor came from the situations or the nature of the characters. Kern's exquisitely flowing melodies were employed to further the action or develop characterization." The shows featured modern American settings and simple scene changes to suit the small theatre. The "Princess Theatre shows" were unique on Broadway not only for their small size, but their clever, coherent plots, integrated scores and naturalistic acting, which presented "a sharp contrast to the large-scale Ruritanian operettas then in vogue"[3] or the star-studded revues and extravaganzas of producers like Florenz Ziegfeld. Earlier musical comedy had often been thinly plotted, gaudy pieces, marked by the insertion of songs into their scores with little regard to the plot. But Kern and Bolton followed the examples of Gilbert and Sullivan and French opéra bouffe in integrating song and story. "These shows built and polished the mold from which almost all later major musical comedies evolved. ... The characters and situations were, within the limitations of musical comedy license, believable and the humor came from the situations or the nature of the characters. Kern's exquisitely flowing melodies were employed to further the action or develop characterization."] The shows featured modern American settings and simple scene changes to suit the small theatre. The "Mind-the-Paint" Girl (1912 play; starring Billie Burke) – incidental music The Red Petticoat (1912) – Kern's first complete score To-Night's the Night (1914) – contributor of two songs to this Rubens musical The Girl from Utah (1914) – added five songs to the American production of this Rubens musical Nobody Home (1915) – the first "Princess Theatre show" Very Good Eddie (1915; revived in 1975) Ziegfeld Follies of 1916 (1916; a revue; the first of many) – contributed four songs Theodore & Co (1916) – contributed four songs to young Ivor Novello's London hit. Miss 1917 - the musical comedy Miss Springtime (1917) – contributor of two songs to this Emmerich Kalman success Have a Heart (1917) – composer and contributor of some lyrics[62] Love O' Mike (1917) Oh, Boy! (1917) – the most successful Princess Theatre show Ziegfeld Follies of 1917 (1917) – contributor of "Because You Are Just You (Just Because You're You)" Leave It to Jane (1917; revived in 1958 Off-Broadway) Oh, Lady! Lady!! (1918) – the last Princess Theatre hit "Oh, My Dear" (1918) – contributed one song to this last "Princess Theatre show" The Night Boat (1920) Hitchy-Koo of 1920 (1920) – revue Sally (1920; revived in 1923 and 1948) – one of Kern's biggest hits The Cabaret Girl (London 1922) The Bunch and Judy (1922) – Kern's first show with Fred Astaire Stepping Stones (1923) During the last phase of his theatrical composing career, Kern continued to work with his previous collaborators but also met Oscar Hammerstein II and Otto Harbach, with whom Kern wrote his most lasting, memorable, and well-known works. The most successful of these are as follows:
01/27

1885

Birthday

January 27, 1885

Birthdate

Manhattan County, NY

Birthplace

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Early Life & Education

In 1897, the family moved to Newark, New Jersey, where Kern attended Newark High School (which became Barringer High School in 1907). He wrote songs for the school's first musical, a minstrel show, in 1901, and for an amateur musical adaptation of Uncle Tom's Cabin put on at the Newark Yacht Club in January 1902.[2] Kern left high school before graduation in the spring of his senior year in 1902. In response, Kern's father insisted that his son work with him in business, instead of composing. Kern, however, failed miserably in one of his earliest tasks: he was supposed to purchase two pianos for the store, but instead he ordered 200. His father relented, and later in 1902, Kern became a student at the New York College of Music, studying the piano under Alexander Lambert and Paolo Gallico, and harmony under Dr. Austin Pierce.] His first published composition, a piano piece, At the Casino, appeared in the same year. Between 1903 and 1905, he continued his musical training under private tutors in Heidelberg, Germany, returning to New York via London.
Religious Beliefs

Jerome Kern was Jewish.
Military Service

Sheet music from Oh Boy! The team's first Princess Theatre show was an adaptation of Paul Rubens' 1905 London show, Mr. Popple (of Ippleton), called Nobody Home (1915). The piece ran for 135 performances and was a modest financial success. However, it did little to fulfill the new team's mission to innovate, except that Kern's song, "The Magic Melody", was the first Broadway showtune with a basic jazz progression. Kern and Bolton next created an original piece, Very Good Eddie, which was a surprise hit, running for 341 performances, with additional touring productions that went on into the 1918-19 season. The British humorist, lyricist and librettist P. G. Wodehouse joined the Princess team in 1917, adding his skill as a lyricist to the succeeding shows. Oh, Boy! (1917) ran for an extraordinary 463 performances. Other shows written for the theatre were Have a Heart (1917), Leave It to Jane (1917) and Oh, Lady! Lady!! (1918). The first opened at another theatre before Very Good Eddie closed. The second played elsewhere during the long run of Oh Boy! An anonymous admirer wrote a verse in their praise[19] that begins:
Professional Career

Academy Award for Best Original Song[edit] 1935 – Nominated for "Lovely to Look At" (lyrics by Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh) from Roberta 1936 – Won for "The Way You Look Tonight" (lyrics by Dorothy Fields) from Swing Time 1941 – Won for "The Last Time I Saw Paris" (lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II) from Lady Be Good 1942 – Nominated for "Dearly Beloved" (lyrics by Johnny Mercer) from You Were Never Lovelier. 1944 – Nominated for "Long Ago (and Far Away)" (lyrics by Ira Gershwin) from Cover Girl 1945 – Posthumously nominated for "More and More" (lyrics by E. Y. Harburg) from Can't Help Singing 1946 – Posthumously nominated for "All Through the Day" (lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II) from Centennial Summer. Academy Award for Best Original Music Score[edit] 1945 – Posthumously nominated for Can't Help Singing (with H. J. Salter). Selected works[edit] Note: All shows listed are musical comedies for which Kern was the sole composer unless otherwise specified. During his first phase of work (1904–1911), Kern wrote songs for 22 Broadway productions, including songs interpolated into British musicals or featured in revues (sometimes writing lyrics as well as music), and he occasionally co-wrote musicals with one or two other composers. During visits to London beginning in 1905, he also composed songs that were first performed in several London shows. The following are some of the most notable such shows from this period:[3] Mr. Wix of Wickham (1904) – contributed most of the songs for this musical's New York production The Catch of the Season (1905) – contributor to this Seymour Hicks musical's New York production The Earl and the Girl (1905) – contributor of music and lyrics to this Hicks and Ivan Caryll musical's American productions The Little Cherub (1906) – contributor to this Caryll and Owen Hall musical's New York production The Rich Mr. Hoggenheimer (1906) – contributor of eight songs The Beauty of Bath (1906) – contributor to the original London production of this Hicks musical, with lyricist P. G. Wodehouse The Orchid (1907) – contributor to this Caryll and Lionel Monckton musical's New York production The Girls of Gottenberg (1908) – contributor of "I Can't Say That You're The Only One" to this Caryll and Monckton musical's New York production Fluffy Ruffles (1908) – co-composer for eight out of ten songs The Dollar Princess (1909) – contributor of songs for American production Our Miss Gibbs (1910) – contributor of four songs and some lyrics to this Caryll and Monckton musical's New York production La Belle Paree (1911) – revue – co-composer for seven songs; the Broadway debut of Al Jolson From 1912 to 1924, the more-experienced Kern began to work on dramatically concerned shows, including incidental music for plays, and, for the first time since his college show Uncle Tom's Cabin, he wrote musicals as the sole composer. His regular lyricist collaborators for his more than 30 shows during this period were Bolton, Wodehouse, Caldwell, Harry B. Smith and Howard Dietz. Some of his most notable shows during this very productive period were as follows: The "Mind-the-Paint" Girl (1912 play; starring Billie Burke) – incidental music The Red Petticoat (1912) – Kern's first complete score To-Night's the Night (1914) – contributor of two songs to this Rubens musical The Girl from Utah (1914) – added five songs to the American production of this Rubens musical Nobody Home (1915) – the first "Princess Theatre show" Very Good Eddie (1915; revived in 1975) Ziegfeld Follies of 1916 (1916; a revue; the first of many) – contributed four songs Theodore & Co (1916) – contributed four songs to young Ivor Novello's London hit. Miss 1917 - the musical comedy Miss Springtime (1917) – contributor of two songs to this Emmerich Kalman success Have a Heart (1917) – composer and contributor of some lyrics[62] Love O' Mike (1917) Oh, Boy! (1917) – the most successful Princess Theatre show Ziegfeld Follies of 1917 (1917) – contributor of "Because You Are Just You (Just Because You're You)" Leave It to Jane (1917; revived in 1958 Off-Broadway) Oh, Lady! Lady!! (1918) – the last Princess Theatre hit "Oh, My Dear" (1918) – contributed one song to this last "Princess Theatre show" The Night Boat (1920) Hitchy-Koo of 1920 (1920) – revue Sally (1920; revived in 1923 and 1948) – one of Kern's biggest hits The Cabaret Girl (London 1922) The Bunch and Judy (1922) – Kern's first show with Fred Astaire Stepping Stones (1923) During the last phase of his theatrical composing career, Kern continued to work with his previous collaborators but also met Oscar Hammerstein II and Otto Harbach, with whom Kern wrote his most lasting, memorable, and well-known works. The most successful of these are as follows: Sunny (1925) – a follow-up to Sally and almost as big a hit; first collaboration with Hammerstein and Harbach Criss Cross (1926) – with Harbach Show Boat (1927; revived frequently) – with Hammerstein Blue Eyes (1928; London) Sweet Adeline (1929) – with Hammerstein The Cat and the Fiddle (1931) – Kern collaborated with Harbach the music, book and lyrics Music in the Air (1932; revived in 1951) – composer and co-director with Hammerstein Roberta (1933) – with Harbach (remade as Lovely to Look At (1952))[63] Three Sisters (1934; London) Mamba's Daughters (1939; revived in 1940) – play – featured songwriter Very Warm for May (1939) – with Hammerstein; Kern's last stage musical, and a failure In addition to revivals of his most popular shows, Kern's music has been posthumously featured in a variety of revues, musicals and concerts on and off Broadway. Jerome Kern Goes to Hollywood (1986) – Broadway revue consisting solely of Kern songs with lyrics by twelve different writers Big Deal (1986) – a Bob Fosse dance revue; includes "Pick Yourself Up" Something Wonderful (1995) – concert celebrating Oscar Hammerstein II's 100th birthday – featured composer Dream (1997) – revue – includes "You Were Never Lovelier", "I'm Old Fashioned", and "Dearly Beloved" Swing! (1999) – dance revue; includes "I Won't Dance" Elaine Stritch at Liberty (2002) – one-woman show; included "All In Fun" Never Gonna Dance (2003) – musical consisting solely of songs composed by Kern, with lyrics by nine different writers Jerome Kern: All the Things You Are (2008) – K T Sullivan's revue biography of Kern featuring Kern's songs Come Fly Away – a Twyla Tharp dance revue; includes "Pick Yourself Up"
Personal Life & Family

Kern in Hollywood In 1935, when musical films had become popular once again, thanks to Busby Berkeley,[43] Kern returned to Hollywood, where he composed the scores to a dozen more films, although he also continued working on Broadway productions. He settled permanently in Hollywood in 1937. After suffering a heart attack in 1939, he was told by his doctors to concentrate on film scores, a less stressful task, as Hollywood songwriters were not as deeply involved with the production of their works as Broadway songwriters. This second phase of Kern's Hollywood career had considerably greater artistic and commercial success than the first. With Hammerstein, he wrote songs for the film versions of his recent Broadway shows Music in the Air (1934), which starred Gloria Swanson in a rare singing role, and Sweet Adeline (1935). With Dorothy Fields, he composed the new music for I Dream Too Much (1935), a musical melodrama about the opera world, starring the Metropolitan Opera diva Lily Pons. Kern and Fields interspersed the opera numbers with their songs, including "the swinging 'I Got Love,' the lullaby 'The Jockey on the Carousel,' and the entrancing title song."[45] Also with Fields, he wrote two new songs, "I Won't Dance" and "Lovely to Look At", for the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film version of Roberta (1935), which was a hit. The show also included the song "I'll Be Hard to Handle". This was given a 1952 remake called Lovely to Look At. Their next film, Swing Time (1936) included the song "The Way You Look Tonight", which won the Academy Award in 1936 for the best song. Other songs in Swing Time include "A Fine Romance", "Pick Yourself Up" and "Never Gonna Dance". The Oxford Companion to the American Musical calls Swing Time "a strong candidate for the best of the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals" and says that, although the screenplay is contrived, it "left plenty of room for dance and all of it was superb. … Although the movie is remembered as one of the great dance musicals, it also boasts one of the best film scores of the 1930s." For the 1936 film version of Show Boat, Kern and Hammerstein wrote three new songs, including "I Have The Room Above Her" and "Ah Still Suits Me". High, Wide, and Handsome (1937) was intentionally similar in plot and style to Show Boat, but it was a box-office failure. Kern songs were also used in the Cary Grant film, When You're in Love (1937), and the first Abbott and Costello feature, One Night in the Tropics (1940). In 1940, Hammerstein wrote the lyric "The Last Time I Saw Paris", in homage to the French capital, recently occupied by the Germans. Kern set it, the only time he set a pre-written lyric, and his only hit song not written as part of a musical. Originally a hit for Tony Martin and later for Noël Coward, the song was used in the film Lady Be Good (1941) and won Kern another Oscar for best song. Kern's second and last symphonic work was his 'Mark Twain Suite (1942).
11/11

1945

Death

November 11, 1945

Death date

Unknown
Cause of death

New York, New York County, New York United States
Death location

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Gravesite & Burial

mm/dd/yyyy
Funeral date
Ferncliff Cemetery 280 Secor Rd, in Hartsdale, Westchester County, New York 10530, United States
Burial location
Obituary

Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A Fine Romance", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "All the Things You Are", "The Way You Look Tonight", "Long Ago (and Far Away)" and "Who?". He collaborated with many of the leading librettists and lyricists of his era, including George Grossmith Jr., Guy Bolton, P. G. Wodehouse, Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II, Dorothy Fields, Johnny Mercer, Ira Gershwin and E. Y. Harburg. A native New Yorker, Kern created dozens of Broadway musicals and Hollywood films in a career that lasted for more than four decades. His musical innovations, such as 4/4 dance rhythms and the employment of syncopation and jazz progressions, built on, rather than rejected, earlier musical theatre tradition. He and his collaborators also employed his melodies to further the action or develop characterization to a greater extent than in the other musicals of his day, creating the model for later musicals. Although dozens of Kern's musicals and musical films were hits, only Show Boat is now regularly revived. Songs from his other shows, however, are still frequently performed and adapted. Many of Kern's songs have been adapted by jazz musicians to become standard tunes. Biography Early life Kern was born in New York City, on Sutton Place, in what was then the city's brewery district. His parents were Henry Kern (1842–1908), a Jewish German immigrant, and Fannie Kern née Kakeles (1852–1907), who was an American Jew of Bohemian parentage.] At the time of Kern's birth, his father ran a stable; later he became a successful merchant. Kern grew up on East 56th Street in Manhattan, where he attended public schools. He showed an early aptitude for music and was taught to play the piano and organ by his mother, an accomplished player and teacher. Kern was one of the founding members of ASCAP. Oscar Hammerstein II, one of Kern's chief collaborators 1925 was a major turning point in Kern's career when he met Oscar Hammerstein II, with whom he would entertain a lifelong friendship and collaboration. As a young man, Kern had been an easy companion with great charm and humor, but he became less outgoing in his middle years, sometimes difficult to work with: he once introduced himself to a producer by saying, "I hear you're a son of a b****. So am I." He rarely collaborated with any one lyricist for long. With Hammerstein, however, he remained on close terms for the rest of his life.Their first show, written together with Harbach, was Sunny, which featured the song "Who (Stole My Heart Away)?" Marilyn Miller played the title role, as she had in Sally.[24] The show ran for 517 performances on Broadway, and the following year ran for 363 performances in the West End, starring Binnie Hale and Jack Buchanan. Show Boat Because of the strong success of Sally and Sunny and consistent good results with his other shows, Ziegfeld was willing to gamble on Kern's next project in 1927. Kern had been impressed by Edna Ferber's novel Show Boat and wished to present a musical stage version.[1] He persuaded Hammerstein to adapt it and Ziegfeld to produce it. The story, dealing with racism, marital strife and alcoholism, was unheard of in the escapist world of musical comedy. Despite his doubts, Ziegfeld spared no expense in staging the piece to give it its full epic grandeur. According to the theatre historian John Kenrick: "After the opening night audience filed out of the Ziegfeld Theatre in near silence, Ziegfeld thought his worst fears had been confirmed. He was pleasantly surprised when the next morning brought ecstatic reviews and long lines at the box office. In fact, Show Boat proved to be the most lasting accomplishment of Ziegfeld's career – the only one of his shows that is regularly performed today."[27] The score is, arguably, Kern's greatest and includes the well-known songs "Ol' Man River" and "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" as well as "Make Believe", "You Are Love", "Life Upon the Wicked Stage", "Why Do I Love You", all with lyrics by Hammerstein, and "Bill", originally written for Oh, Lady! Lady!, with lyrics by P. G. Wodehouse.] The show ran for 572 performances on Broadway and was also a success in London. Although Ferber's novel was filmed unsuccessfully as a part-talkie in 1929 (using some songs from the Kern score), the musical itself was filmed twice, in 1936, and, with Technicolor, in 1951. In 1989, a stage version of the musical was presented on television for the first time, in a production from the Paper Mill Playhouse telecast by PBS on Great Performances. 1951 film version of Kern and Hammerstein's Show Boat While most Kern musicals have largely been forgotten, except for their songs, Show Boat remains well-remembered and frequently seen. It is a staple of stock productions and has been revived numerous times on Broadway and in London. A 1946 revival starring JAN CLAYTON, integrated choreography into the show, in the manner of a Rodgers and Hammerstein production, as did the 1994 Harold Prince–Susan Stroman revival, which was nominated for ten Tony Awards, winning five, including best revival. It was the first musical to enter a major opera company's repertory (New York City Opera, 1954), and the rediscovery of the 1927 score with Robert Russell Bennett's original orchestrations led to a large-scale EMI recording in 1987 and several opera-house productions. In 1941, the conductor Artur Rodziński wished to commission a symphonic suite from the score, but Kern considered himself a songwriter and not a symphonist. He never orchestrated his own scores, leaving that to musical assistants, principally Frank Saddler (until 1921) and Russell Bennett (from 1923).[3] In response to the commission, Kern oversaw an arrangement by Charles Miller and Emil Gerstenberger of numbers from the show into the orchestral work Scenario for Orchestra: Themes from Show Boat, premiered in 1941 by the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Rodziński. Personal life and death Lena Horne sings "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" in Till the Clouds Roll By. Kern and his wife, Eva, often vacationed on their yacht Show Boat. He collected rare books and enjoyed betting on horses. At the time of Kern's death, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was filming a fictionalized version of his life, Till the Clouds Roll By, which was released in 1946 starring Robert Walker as Kern. In the film, Kern's songs are sung by Judy Garland, Kathryn Grayson, June Allyson, Lena Horne, Dinah Shore, Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury, among others, and Gower Champion and Cyd Charisse appear as dancers. Many of the biographical facts are fictionalized. In the fall of 1945, Kern returned to New York City to oversee auditions for a new revival of Show Boat, and began to work on the score for what would become the musical Annie Get Your Gun, to be produced by Rodgers and Hammerstein. On November 5, 1945, at 60 years of age, he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while walking at the corner of Park Avenue and 57th Street. Identifiable only by his ASCAP card, Kern was initially taken to the indigent ward at City Hospital, later being transferred to Doctors Hospital in Manhattan. Hammerstein was at his side when Kern's breathing stopped. Hammerstein hummed or sang the song "I've Told Ev'ry Little Star" from Music in the Air (a personal favorite of the composer's) into Kern's ear. Receiving no response, Hammerstein knew Kern had died. Rodgers and Hammerstein then assigned the task of writing the score for Annie Get Your Gun to the veteran Broadway composer Irving Berlin. Kern is interred at Ferncliff Cemetery in Westchester County, New York.[60] He was survived by his wife and their daughter, Betty Jane (1913–1996; she married Artie Shaw in 1942 and later Jack Cummings). Kern's wife eventually remarried, to a singer named George Byron. Awards Jerome Kern was nominated eight times for an Academy Award, and won twice. Seven nominations were for Best Original Song; these included a posthumous nomination in each of 1945 and 1946. One nomination was in 1945 for Best Original Music Score. Kern was not eligible for any Tony Awards, which were not created until 1947. In 1976, Very Good Eddie was nominated for a Drama Desk Award as Outstanding Revival, and the director and actors received various Tony, Drama Desk and other awards and nominations. Elisabeth Welsh was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in Jerome Kern Goes to Hollywood in 1986, and Show Boat received Tony nominations in both 1983 and 1995, winning for best revival in 1995 (among numerous other awards and nominations), and won the Laurence Olivier Award for best revival in 2008. In 1986, Big Deal was nominated for the Tony for best musical, among other awards, and Bob Fosse won as best choreographer. In 2000, Swing!, featuring Kern's "I Won't Dance" was nominated for the Tony for Best Musical, among others. In 2002, Elaine Stritch at Liberty, featuring Kern's "All in Fun", won the Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event. In 2004, Never Gonna Dance received two Tony nominations. Kern was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame posthumously, in 1970. In 1985, the U.S. Post Office issued a postage stamp (Scott #2110, 22¢), with an illustration of Kern holding sheet music.

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Jerome David Kern lived 15 years shorter than the average family member when died at the age of 60.

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9 Memories, Stories & Photos about Jerome

Amanda S. Stevenson

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10/27/2019

Jerome David Kern

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Amanda S. Stevenson

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10/27/2019

Jerome David Kern

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Amanda S. Stevenson

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10/27/2019

Jerome David Kern

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Amanda S. Stevenson

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10/27/2019

Jerome David Kern

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Amanda S. Stevenson

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10/27/2019

Jerome David Kern

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Amanda S. Stevenson

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12/28/2017

Jerome David Kern

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Amanda S. Stevenson

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12/28/2017

Jerome David Kern

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Amanda S. Stevenson

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08/01/2017

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Dorothy Fields, Jerome Kern, & George Gershwin

Amanda S. Stevenson

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07/28/2017

Dorothy Fields, Jerome Kern, & George Gershwin

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Amanda S. Stevenson

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05/30/2018

Dorothy Fields remembers "The Way You Look Tonight"

"The first time Jerry (Jerome Kern) played that melody for me, I went out and started to cry. The release absolutely killed me. I couldn't stop. It was so beautiful."

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Jerome Kern's Family Tree & Friends

Jerome Kern's Family Tree

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Jerome David Kern Jan 27, 1885 - Nov 11, 1945

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Other Biographies

Other Jerome Kern Biographies

Kern, Jerome (Feb 23, 1950 - Mar 17, 2002) Kern, Jerome (Jan 9, 1921 - Sep 1981) Kern, Jerome (Mar 16, 1935 - Jun 24, 2010) Kern, Jerome (Jan 22, 1920 - Aug 1970) Kern, Jerome (Mar 22, 1920 - Jul 1979) Kern, Jerome (Mar 4, 1975 - Nov 4, 1994) Kern, Jerome (Aug 16, 1943 - Jul 10, 2009) Kern, Jerome (Dec 13, 1923 - Jan 4, 2001)

Kern, Jerome (Born 1885) Kern, Jerome (Mar 1, 1942 - Jun 17, 2005) Kern, Jerome (Dec 16, 1892 - Mar 1974) Kern, Jerome (Feb 12, 1893 - Jan 6, 1989) Kern, Jerome (Sep 29, 1936 - Apr 15, 2001) Kern, Jerome (Mar 15, 1947 - Feb 24, 2009) Kern, Jerome (Feb 24, 1920 - Jul 1981) Kern, Jerome (Aug 28, 1929 - Sep 29, 2010)

Other Kern Family Biographies

Truax, Wilma (Born Jun 9, 1924) Kern, Millie (Oct 1, 1896 - Nov 15, 1973) Kern, Perry (Born Jul 29, 1886) Frank, Fannie (Born 1891) Kern, Mrs. Cecil Kern, Kenneth Kern, Albert (Dec 11, 1892 - Mar 1971) Kern, Catherine (May 23, 1931 - May 20, 2005) Kern, David (Mar 22, 1950 - Jan 26, 2007) Kern, Cora (Feb 17, 1941 - Dec 14, 2009)

Kern, Darla (Apr 16, 1951 - Dec 5, 2007) Kern, Jane (Dec 28, 1909 - Aug 1978) Kern, Armande (Dec 15, 1893 - Mar 1968) Kern, Harriett (Dec 15, 1915 - Oct 19, 2008) Kern, Alice (Aug 6, 1903 - Jun 6, 2001) Kern, Lillian (Sep 13, 1896 - Sep 24, 1989) Kern, Dorothy (Sep 16, 1917 - Aug 1987) Kern, Abraham (Feb 28, 1915 - Apr 19, 1996) Kern, Katherine (Dec 1, 1889 - Dec 1983) Kern, Peter (Oct 24, 1946 - Dec 4, 2008)

About the AncientFaces Community

Jerome David Kern 1885 - 1945

Jerome David Kern's History: 1885 - 1945

Introduction

Birthday

Early Life & Education

Religious Beliefs

Military Service

Professional Career

Personal Life & Family

Death

Gravesite & Burial

Obituary

9 Memories, Stories & Photos about Jerome

Jerome Kern's Family Tree & Friends

Jerome Kern's Family Tree

Jerome's Friends

Other Jerome Kern Biographies

Other Kern Family Biographies